ROTTERDAM – After adding a fifth victory to his winning streak on Saturday, lightweight Rustam Khabilov didn’t have to look far to spot his next target.

Well, one of his targets, anyway.

After edging out Desmond Green (20-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to earn a unanimous-decision win, which streamed on UFC Fight Pass from Ahoy Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Khabilov (22-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) was – predictably – asked who he’d like to fight next. He seemed to have that one pretty figured out already.

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“That was Michael Johnson in the corner of Desmond Green, and I wish to fight with him,” Khabilov said through an interpreter.

But Johnson, who’s coming off a TKO loss to Justin Gaethje at a memorable TUF 25 Finale affair, isn’t the only one on Khabilov’s mind.

“There’s another fighter who’s talking a lot of smack, who’s talking a lot of trash,” Green said. “That’s Kevin Lee. He was talking a lot of (expletive) about me, about the whole wrestling game and stuff. And I challenged him. I was tweeting him, and he was responding back.

“And he said, ‘I’m going to fight with you anywhere, anytime.’ But when things get real, he just disappears somewhere/ I don’t know. Now he’s talking. He’s trying to fight for the interim (belt). But I want to let him know that I’m chasing him.”

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That matchup seems unlikely now, being that Lee (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is currently scheduled to meet fellow contender Tony Ferguson in a UFC 216 showdown for the division’s interim title. Johnson (17-12 MMA, 9-8 UFC), in turn, remains unbooked – but seems to be headed for the featherweight division.

In any case, Khabilov has earned the right to put in some requests. After a rough 2014-2015 period that saw him snap a six-fight winning streak with back-to-back losses to ex-champ Benson Henderson and Adriano Martins, Khabilov bounced back with four wins in an undefeated 2016 campaign.

Khabilov wasn’t able to keep up the same pace this year due to injuries. But with his first 2017 scrap – and win – in the bag, he’s on the right track when it comes to his objectives.

“The goal was to get in the top 15,” Khabilov said. “Because I used to be in the top 15 before. And it’s like a renewing of my career, after the two losses. Last year, 2016, I did really well. I did the four fights.

“This is my 10th fight in the UFC, and that was the motivation: Get to the top, get my position back, and fight the best in the division.”

After the lightweight scrap, Green made sure to let people know that he wasn’t in agreement with with how the judges viewed it (via Twitter):

On his end, while certainly happier than his opponent, Khabilov wasn’t entirely satisfied with how things ended either.

“Honestly, I’m not very happy that I ended the fight with a decision,” Khabilov said. “Because I was looking for the finish. But, after my last fight in December, I had two surgeries – on my knee and on my shoulder. And I had a one-year layoff. I think that’s affected the fight.

“And the opponent, himself, he’s the kind of opponent who’s not fighting himself, (he’s) defensive, and he’s not attacking. All the time, just running away, running away. This kind of stylistic matchup is not very good.”